Whatever Was Fiercest And Wildest In Nature And
Boldest In Art Was There, And Now The House Went Mad With Its
Hand-Clappings And Table-Hammerings And Deep-Throated "Oles!"
Another night we went to the academy of the world-renowned Otero and saw
the instruction of Sevillian youth in
Native dances of the _haute
ecole._ The academy used to be free to a select public, but now the
chosen, who are nearly always people from the hotels, must pay ten
pesetas each for their pleasure, and it is not too much for a pleasure
so innocent and charming. The academy is on the ground floor of the
_maestro's_ unpretentious house, and in a waiting-room beyond the
shoemaker's shop which filled the vestibule sat, patient in their black
mantillas, the mothers and nurses of the pupils. These were mostly quite
small children in their every-day clothes, but there were two or three
older girls in the conventional dancing costume which a lady from one of
the hotels had emulated. Everything was very simple and friendly; Otero
found good seats among the _aficionados_ for the guests presented to
him, and then began calling his pupils to the floor of the long, narrow
room with quick commands of "_Venga_!" A piano was tucked away in a
corner, but the dancers kept time now with castanets and now by snapping
their fingers. Two of the oldest girls, who were apparently graduates,
were "differently beautiful" in their darkness and fairness, but alike
picturesquely Spanish in their vivid dresses and the black veils
fluttering from their high combs.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 271 of 376
Words from 74087 to 74351
of 103320
